Peepli Live is a Hindi film set in a dusty, drought-starved mud-brick village in Gudjerat, where a poor and not very bright farmer with a wife, kids and a furious mother is manoeuvred by his elder brother into planning suicide so the family can collect a special benefit and pay the bank. A local newspaper gets hold of the story, runs it, a national TV network picks it up and suddenly the village is surrounded by journalists and film crews on suicide watch, while village, state and national politicians try to pass the buck.

This robust satire scrutinises the hypocritical relationship between India's politicians (with their largely symbolic, ineffectual programs of rural aid), the media, and the rural poor. There are scenes of pure comic absurdity, but not a single sentimental moment. Instead, just when you aren't looking, it punches you in the guts.It's a first feature written and directed by Anusha Rizvi, who has made some television documentaries before turning her satirical gaze upon the media. Her partner Mahmood Faroqui, with a background in regional theatre, is credited as co-director and Omkar Das is Natha, the farmer in question. An experienced actor, his is not a face for Bollywood. All the faces here are raw and worn, and the village setting is worn and dusty.

Aamir Khan, one of Bollywood's biggest male stars, has produced the film. Since the worldwide success of colonial cricket drama Lagaan, his first venture as producer, Khan has consistently backed interesting and challenging films. He has said, simply, he thought the script was terrific, that these things happen in India every day, and that he wanted to give Anusha Rizvi a voice.

It's a fascinating film this, because it doesn't have the solemnity of Indian 'alternative' cinema, nor an ounce of Bollywood glitz. Yet it is vastly entertaining, and it's also a musical, with a contemporary folk soundtrack by Indian Ocean. Funny and rewarding.